Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-03-03
cORN FOR FOOD.


Tue Cnaecountable Prejudice Exlsttng
Against Its Use In England.
1t is really surprising that the pre-
judice against what we call ..corn" as
a food-product among the people of
England and Ireland should be so gem
eral and so strong as it is. 1t is all
the more surprising because the potato
has been adopted by the English. and
still more by the Irish people; and lit
tie repugnance is manifested towards
American tobacco anywhere in the
United Kingdom. In recent issue.
the London Telegraph calls the attcn-
ton of the public to this strange dis
taste for corn.
There Is said to be but one dealer in
London from whom cOrn-mcal can
be obtained. and this dealer keeps it
only for American customers. Refer
ence is made to the potato famine of
1896 in Ireland. and it is said that the
cargo of corn which was sent over
there from this country was wasted
charity. Rather than eat maize in
the form of bread or of cakes. the Irish
poor preferred to starvc for want of
the far less sustaining potato" Ef-
forts made since that time teach the
Irish how to cook and serve this article
of food are reported as without effect.
The writer from whom we quote add
mits that ''unless corn becomes fash
ionable among the richer classes, it
We're vain to hope that it twill ever seem
palatable to the poor" This reminds
us that it was precisely in that
way that antipathy to corn was over
come in these colonies. When the
aristocracy breakfasted on corn-bread.
and went out to work all dav on the
thin soil of New England. trying to
make crop of corn for the next sea-
son. with nothing to support them in
their labor through the day but few
kernels of parched corn and tighten
ed belt. then this grain became '.pala-
table to the poor" All nonsensical
prejudice against this rich blessing was
then weeded out of the American mind.
Our exports of corn to Great Britain
amount to more than thirty millions of
bushels a year. They have been rs
high as sixty-fve millions. If the Lon
don Telegraph is we'll informed. most
of this corn must be fed to stock. In
that case, it is to be feared that many
an Irish pig fares better than his
owners children. 1t may be said that
the corn goes to make meat. AID that
the meat is an essential article of food.
This argument might be admitted in
parts of this country where corn is
thought a proper article of fuel even,
but in country where corn is an i'm
portation. any such direct conversion
of it into food is extravaganza wasteful-
ness. Mr.. Kemble concludes that the
bread of Saxon England was made
largely Of rye. He shows that very
little of it was made of white, sifted
flour. Since 1850. as appears from the
researches of Prof. Thorold Rogers,
wheat has been the grain which has
furnished England with bread.
Il can rot but think he says. '.in
the provident care which the Legisl;l-
ture took at so early an epoch of the
interests of the consumers. attention
would have been given to rye. oaten or
barley bread. if these had been in early
times the food of the people"
This long-continued acquaintance
with wheaton loaves has mattlred the
British tastes for that variety of food.
That it can yield to Il liking for corn
bread is made certain by the fact that
in this country it is the white people of
the South. the most thoroughly English
in their nature, who show the keenest
of the merits of the zoe
cake, Johnny-cake and pone bread.
What orr British cousins need in this
matter is to learn how to prepare corn
for food in the ways with which any
plantation aunty is familiar. ana then
it will be both easy and agreeable to
discover the good qualities of this
yrain.-Iouth's Companion.